Means for operating rolling partitions.



PATENTED DI:c.22,1-9o3. W. LUMLEY. MEANS PONOPENATING ROLLING PARTITIONS.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 25, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

JSM@ u.. wamaron u c NITED STATES Patented December 22, 1903.

PATENT OEEICE.

WILLIAM LUMLEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 747,621, dated December 22,1903.

Application filed July 25, 1902.- Serial No. 116,917. (No model.)

' rolling partitions employed in lecture-halls t Y I and other like places for dividing the same oif into a number of smaller rooms, and which partitions are usually wound on rollers secured to the ceiling, the edges of the partitions being held by portable guides or posts in which such edges slide, and which posts are customarily removed to avoid obstruct ing the room when the partition is rolled up.

My invention has for its primary object to provide improved portable means whereby the partition may be conveniently rolled up or unrolled by power, a further and subsidiary object being to providesuch means on one of the movable guides or posts so that when the latter is putin place it will automatically connect with the winding mechanism of the partition at the ceiling.l

With these ends in View my invention consists in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts by which the said objects and certain other objects hereinafter appearing are attained, all as fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings,and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view taken transversely of the box or casing which contains the partition at the ceiling and longitudinally of. the post which guides the partition and carries the operating mechanism. Fig. 2 is a plan section of such casing, taken on the line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail vertical section of the joint between the portable and iXed portions of the apparatus, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan section taken on the line 4 4, Fig. 1.

The partition is not shown, but it may be in the form ofV any suitable flexible curtain secured to and adapted to wind on a roller or drum 1, which is supported under the ceiling by any suitable means and usually within a casing or box 2, so as to hide the curtain or partition from View when rolled' up. The shaft 3 of the roller or drum l is provided on one end with a worm-wheel 4, with which engages a worm 5, arranged in a vertical position and having the upper end of its shaft 6 j ournaled in a bracket 7X, secured to one end 1 of the casing 2, and its lower end projected through the bottom of the casing and carrying asocket 7,which is situated within a stationary portion 8 of the post or guide, whose portable portion, before referred to, is shown at 9, the stationary portion 8 being secured to the under side of the casing 2 or to any other part of the building. The portable portion 9 of the post or guide is hollow, and within it is situated a vertical shaft l0, which is journaled in blocks 11 12 or any yother suitable bearings, and the upper end of this shaft l0 projects above the upper block or bearing 12 and is in the form of a key 13, which when the portable portion 9 of the boss or guide is placed under the fixed portion 8 engages in the socket 7 and turns the screw 5 when the shaft 10 is turned. In order that the parts may be more accurately fitted together,either the xed or the portable portion of the post, preferably the portable portion, is provided with dowels or pins 14, which engage in suitable sockets in a block 15, secured in the lower end of the fixed portion 8 of the post, and which block 15 also constitutes a guide for holding and steadying the lower end of the shaft 6.

-On the lower end of the shaft 10 is secured a beveled pinion 16,which meshes with a beveled gear 17, secured on a horizontal crankshaft 18, journaled in a suitable bracket 19, arranged within the post and secured to a block 2O by means of' bolts 2l or other suitable devices, the outer end of'crank-shaft 18 being provided with crank 22,s0 that the shaft 10 may be rapidly revolved,

In order that the lower end of the post or guide may be secured in place, it is provided with one or more bolts 23, adapted to drop into suitable sockets in the floor 24.

With the means described it will be seen that the act of placing the guide or post in position to receive the edge of the partition as it is unwound from the drum 1 also con- TOO nects the winding mechanism o f the drum with the operating mechanism in the post, and by applying the crank 22 to its shaft 18 the partition may be quickly lowered or raised, and when once wound Within its casing it will there remain without other holding means, since its weight cannot rotate the worm 5 neither before nor after the portable portion of the post is removed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a'device for the purpose described the combination of a winding partition or curtain, means for winding and unwinding the same, a portable gnidepost therefor and means calried by said post for engaging and operating said winding means, substantially as set forth.

2. In a device for the purpose desc.ribed,the combination of a winding partition or curtain, means for winding and nnwinding the same, a portable guide-post having means at its upper end for connecting with said winding means, and means at its lower end for attachment to the ioor and means carried by said post for operating said winding means, substantially as set forth.

3. In a device for the purpose described the combination of a winding partition or curtain, means for winding and unwinding the same, a portable guide-post, means carried by said portable guide-post, comprising a key for engaging and operating said winding means, substantially as set forth.

4. In a device for the purpose described the combination with a winding partition or curtain, winding means therefor having a socket, aportable guide-post for the edge of said curtain or partition, and operating means carried by said post and com prisinga key adapted to engage in said socket when the post is put in place, substantially as set forth.

5. In a device for the purpose described the combination of a winding partition or curtain, Winding means therefor having a shaft, a portable guide-post for the edge of said partition, a shaft journaled on said post, means for connecting said shafts together when said post is put in place, and means carried by said post for revolving said second shaft, substantially as set forth.

6. In a device for the purpose described the combination of a winding partition or curtain, winding means therefor, a portable guide-post for the edge of said partition or curtain, a casing for said partition or curtain, adjoining means for connecting the npper end of said portable post with said casing, a shaft journaled on said portable post, means for connecting said shaft with said winding means when said post is placed in position, and means carried by said post for revolving said shaft, substantially as .set forth.

7. In a device for the purpose described the combination of a winding partition or curtain, a worm and worm-wheel operatively connected therewith for winding and unwinding the same, a socketed shaft 6 for rotating said worm, a portable post for guiding the edge of said curtain, ashaft journaled in said post and having a key adapted to engage in the socket of shaft 6 and means carried by said post for revolving said second shaft, substantially as set forth.

8. In a device for the purpose described the combination of a winding partition or curtain, winding means therefor, the fixedv or stationary portion 8 of a guide-post for the edge of said curtain, a portable portion 9 of said gnidepost,dowelpins for connecting the portions of said guide-post together, a shaft journaled in the portable portion of said guide-post, means for connecting said shaft with said winding means when the said portions of the guide-post are placed together, and means carried by said portable portion of the guide-post for revolving said shaft, substantially as set forth.

WM. LUMLEY.

Witnesses:

F. A. HOPKINS, M. B. ALLs'raDT. 

